Why does the skin age?

Anti-aging can be said to be one of the mainstream areas of skin care today. Many products mention anti-aging. However, there are now a wide variety of skin care products, and the various claimed functions are overwhelming. But what functions do they really have? Why do I use a lot of skin care products but still have no obvious effects?

Today I will talk to you about why the skin ages and how to improve aging?

01. Do you understand your skin?

To solve the problem of skin aging, we must first understand the skin so that we can prescribe the right medicine. In daily skin care, some products do seem to have immediate effects, making people feel that anti-aging is a very easy concept. However, once you stop using them, you find that it seems to have returned to its old state immediately. In fact, the essence behind this is the lack of a complete anti-aging logic, so it only treats the symptoms but not the root cause. For example, the typical simple exogenous supplementation of collagen has a very direct effect. After all, one of the manifestations of aging is the reduction in the production of elastic collagen, but exogenous supplementation of collagen can only be superficial, just like the leaves of a plant are short of water, and you simply sprinkle water on the leaves without watering the entire plant. If you do not solve the logic of the skin's own collagen production, and simply supplement collagen, it will immediately return to its original state once you stop.

Therefore, the logic of anti-aging should be to deal with aging comprehensively and fundamentally.

This is what I want to say today. If we want a more scientific and comprehensive anti-aging logic, we must have a comprehensive understanding of the structure and aging of the skin.

The above picture is a diagram of the basic structure of the skin. I believe you have seen it many times. From the outside to the inside, there are three parts. The aging of the skin must be caused by problems in all structures. Let us briefly introduce it.

02. Skin Microecology

Skin microecology is the most easily overlooked factor that directly affects skin condition. Many skin care problems arise at this step.

There are microorganisms on the surface of the skin. This is the price of living in the natural environment. After all, microorganisms are everywhere in the air and the environment we come into contact with. The moisture and inorganic salts secreted by the sebum and sweat glands on the surface of our skin are their source of nutrition.

After long-term adaptation, our skin microorganisms will form a relatively stable microecology, in which various microorganisms will form a relatively balanced state, and even the types and proportions of those strains are relatively stable. We call it skin microecology.

Don’t underestimate the skin microecology, as it is the first barrier of our skin and directly plays the role of “guarding against enemies outside the skin”.

They can directly fight against foreign harmful bacteria. Once harmful bacteria fall on the skin, the resident bacteria in our skin microecology begin to secrete relevant antibacterial ingredients to resist these foreign invasions, thereby preventing them from further penetrating and causing various skin problems. They can also form a protective layer with sebum to cope with environmental changes and reduce our sensitivity to the environment. Therefore, these skin microecological bacteria are actually what we call probiotics in daily life - bacteria that are beneficial to the human body.

However, if we over-cleanse the skin and destroy the skin's microecology, or use inappropriate skin care products and cosmetics, or if problems with skin nutrition occur due to endogenous factors, then the skin's microecology will begin to be destroyed. At this time, exogenous pathogens will take advantage of the opportunity to enter. Once they invade and destroy the skin's microecology, they begin to damage the skin barrier. At this time, problems such as allergies and acne will arise, and these lesions will directly lead to skin aging.

Therefore, the first step in anti-aging skin care must be to repair the skin's microecology.

03. Epidermis and dermis

Next is the epidermis. This part is the skin we commonly understand, and it is also the biological structure of the human body that connects the inside and the outside. Because it is a dense structure composed of multiple layers of cells, some people call it a brick wall structure. This layer of structure is closely related to the performance of our skin. For example, the skin elasticity and hydration that are often mentioned are mainly for the epidermis. As a structure connecting the inside and the outside, they are affected by the transmission of the skin microecology, and they are also connected to the metabolism and nutrition supply of the dermis inside the skin.

The last part is the dermis, which is directly connected to the inside of our human body. Therefore, it also responds to our internal metabolism and state. It is also the base camp for the continuous division and differentiation to form our skin structure.

Solving the problem of skin aging must be a comprehensive project that requires repairing skin from the inside out. This is the logical problem of skin repair.

So next, let’s take a look at how to repair the skin step by step and comprehensively.

04. How to improve skin aging?

What are the strategies for dealing with skin aging? Just like the multi-layered composition we mentioned above, the logic of anti-aging should be the same.

The first thing is to restore the skin microecology. As the skin microecology is directly related to the outside world, it is most susceptible to external microorganisms, excessive skin care and the external environment. As the first barrier of the skin, their destruction will directly cause skin problems and lead to aging. Therefore, the first step in anti-aging is to deal with the skin microecology.

How to restore skin microecology?

Let's sort it out. The resident bacteria on the surface of the skin are the main components of the skin's microecology. They form a balance to resist the invasion of harmful bacteria from the outside world. Therefore, what we need to do most is to maintain these resident bacteria on the skin and let them play their role.

So, the question is, how to maintain the resident bacteria on the skin? Can we directly supplement the skin microorganisms? In fact, it is not very good, because the composition of the skin microecology varies from person to person and from environment to environment. If the corresponding strains cannot be supplemented, it may not only fail to supplement the skin microecology, but also destroy the original ecology.

Therefore, the best approach is to directly provide nutrition to the skin's microecology according to the needs of the skin's resident bacteria and ensure their needs, so that they can play their role.

After solving the skin microecology problem, the next step is to repair the brick wall structure of the epidermis. After all, this is where our skin aging is most likely to manifest.

At this time, ingredients that have a significant promoting effect on epidermal regeneration are often used, so that the skin can restore its own secretion of proteins such as collagen and hyaluronic acid, thereby restoring skin firmness.

Finally, it is to deeply stimulate the recovery of dermal cells. In this case, it is often some ingredients that have an effect on cell growth and development, which can stimulate the growth of dermal cells and allow them to continuously provide nutrition to the epidermis.

This is the repair process that occurs with aging.

Because of this, I believe that a good skin care product must be logically scientific and comprehensive in addressing skin care issues. In fact, in recent years, skin care products have gone through the initial barbaric era, and people no longer believe in some big brands or superstitious propaganda.

Scientific skin care logic, scientific skin care ideas and coping methods are the best way to choose skin care products. When choosing skin care products in daily life, you should also learn more about the real solutions of each skin care product, so that you can avoid detours.